Everything You Want Me to Be by Minda Mejia was billed as an “if you loved Gone Girl, you’ll be up at night reading this one” type. I did not find that to be entirely true. While this was somewhat suspenseful and a fast read, I didn’t find it particularly believable and I’m a bit tired of the teacher-affair-with-student angle. Nevertheless, this wasn’t a bad summer pick and a decent not-too-deep-or-taxing psychological thriller. Hattie has spent her whole life acting a part. She is found stabbed to death at the beginning of the book and the rest of the story jumps from her point of view, the investigator’s, and the teacher with whom she has an online and then in person affair. Ultimately, who is to blame for Hattie’s death?? Perhaps you, like me, will want to read the whole thing to find out.

I was very excited for The Almost Sisters to be available since I loved Joshilyn Jackson’s Someone Else’s Love Story, reviewed here. What’s funny is that I had forgotten that two years ago I read another of Jackson’s books, The Opposite of Everyone, and didn’t really like it. The Almost Sisters was good, especially at the end, but not as good as Someone Else’s Love Story. However, it was better than The Opposite of Everyone. Leia Birch Briggs’ has a one-night stand at a comic convention, which turns into a baby boy. Before she confesses this to her family, her step-sister Rachel’s marriage falls apart and she learns that her grandmother, Birchie, is losing her mind, having hidden her dementia with the help of her best friend. Leia returns to Alabama to help her grandmother and ends up in the middle of a crime scene. While things tie themselves up somewhat too neatly to be believed, it was a good and quick summer read.

I was so excited to read Fredrick Bachman’s newest, Beartown. I had trouble getting into it and struggled to keep up my interest through the first third. The jumping between characters were too confusing and in-depth descriptions about the underpinnings of hockey team structure just were not interesting to me. It then picked up a bit, but around the 50% mark, I felt slogged down again. While the story twist was compelling and I felt more engaged with the characters, the pace was too slow to keep me enjoying the book. However, the last quarter moved along at a good clip and, in the end, I enjoyed the resolutions to each story. On the whole, though, I would say this was not a favorite of mine.

I have read a good deal of positive press about American War by Omar El Akkad. And, there are other futuristic books I have enjoyed, so it seemed like a good one to pick up. It’s a story of a woman who lives through another American Civil War, which, of course, is not so difficult to believe. And, while the first half hummed along at a good clip, I got mired in the middle and at the three-quarter mark, I just wanted to be done with it already. I didn’t really like any of the characters and the war itself was somewhat dense and hard to follow. I wouldn’t grab this one if I were you.

I grabbed Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham after reading multiple good reviews. I didn’t realize it was YA. YA is generally not my favorite, but this book stood above others. When Rowan Chase finds a skeleton in her family’s guesthouse, she is led on a 100-year old mystery. She learns about her own history, as well as the history of Tulsa. In alternating chapters, we learn the backstory of the mystery. The stories, past and present, weave together beautifully and led to an ending I didn’t predict until right before it happened. The story is one I didn’t know and found both interesting and disturbing. It was a well-written book and one that I recommend, even if you don’t enjoy YA.

After swearing off WWII books, I read two in quick succession (since they came from the library at the same time). The Fortunate Ones by Ellen Umansky jumps back and forth from 1936 Vienna to present-day LA. It centers on the lives of two families and a painting they both possessed for a short time.  I enjoyed this story, but it fell a little flat in comparison to the one I just finished, We Were the Lucky Ones. On its own, though, this one is absolutely worth a read. And, the story is much less focused on the war itself, so a bit less depressing.

The Confusion of Languages by Siobhan Fallon grabs you from the first page. It’s the story of two women who are thrown together because they are both living in Jordan with their husbands who work for the US Embassy. When Margaret asks Cassie to watch her son one day while she goes to the police station to file a report about her car accident, we spend the day with Cassie. Cassie reminisces about her time with her unlikely friend, and also reads through her journal to learn the motivations behind Margaret’s marriage and behaviors. I lost interest in these characters and the story (other than figuring out the resolution) about mid-way through and struggled to finish it. Perhaps it was the way the story was told (alternating chapters with Margaret alone in the apartment, dissecting the past and Cassie’s journal) or perhaps it was just the characters themselves. In either event, this was a skip-worthy choice, unfortunately.

I read about allegedly by tiffany d. jackson on Bustle’s “List of Books that Deserve Way More Buzz.” It’s the story of a 16-year-old girl who has been incarcerated and accused of killing a baby who was in her mother’s care. Did she do it? This is a fast-paced story, and definitely deserves more buzz than it received. It’s a tough tale to read, yet the pages keep turning because you want to know what’s going to happen to Mary, and, also, did she do it?

The Girl Before by JP Delaney is a thriller told in alternating chapters by two women who both occupied a house years apart. As the story unfolds, you learn about each woman’s life and why they found the house and how they are connected. The house is a character in the story, as is the strange architect who built it and stipulated hundreds of rules for those who rent it. This story was somewhat reminiscent of Fifty Shades of Gray and wasn’t too tough to figure out. While it was a quick and OK summer read, I wouldn’t go out of my way on this one.

All That’s Left to Tell by Daniel Lowe, is another from Bustle’s “Books That Deserve More Buzz.” This is the story of Marc, an executive, working in Pakistan, who is taken hostage, blindfolded, and visited mostly by Josephine. Weeks earlier, Marc’s daughter had been killed in the States and he had not gone home for the funeral. Josephine weaves a story that she tells Marc, of his daughter and what might have happened. The fictitious story and the real story come together so that you can’t tell what’s real and what’s fiction. It’s disarming. While I found the story somewhat interesting, I have to say that it didn’t strike me as that fascinating. And, I’d give it a miss over better books to choose this summer.